First Minister Alex Salmond is reportedly considering holding his independence referendum on a Saturday in a bid to boost voter turnout.

The Scottish Government will launch its consultation document setting out its referendum plans on Wednesday and The Courier newspaper reported that it will ask for views on holding the vote on a Saturday to help increase the turnout.

The potential move has already received support from Mr Salmond's party members

"The vote on Scotland's constitutional future will be one of the biggest decisions we will ever make as a country - it will be a truly historic day when people are given the chance to choose independence and equality for their country.

"That is why I welcome looking at options on how to boost the number of people who vote and I look forward to hearing the details when the First Minister announces the consultation document on Wednesday.

"This document will give people the chance to judge the Scottish Government's proposals and submit their views on how they want the referendum to be run. But we firmly believe the referendum must be built in Scotland and the decision must be made by the people of Scotland."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We will set out our detailed proposals for running the referendum in the consultation document we are publishing on Wednesday, which will be entirely fair and people can judge them and submit their views."

A Scottish Labour spokesman said: "We are open to ideas to boost voter turnout and look forward to the Scottish Government's consultation when it is published this week. But with huge question marks over the SNP's plans for defence and for future currency, we cannot allow the process debate to distract from the faltering case for independence."